1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an innovative ensilage trolley for containers and to a shuttle with said trolley. This invention also relates to a storage system including said shuttle and trolley.
2. State of the Prior Art
The ensilage trolley or ensiler and the shuttle have the function of transferring containers or other assimilable load units (movable cases or equivalent platforms for intermodal transport of various goods) between the different boxes of a warehouse or handling and sorting system of said load units.
In the description below, by the word ‘container’ is meant all the possible load units assimilable with a container in its various versions.
Usually, warehouses automated with ensilage shuttles and trolleys have boxes arranged on several superimposed levels, normally from 6 to 10 (even if solutions are possible with a larger or smaller number of levels). The boxes are realized with a-structure of columns and cross pieces of steel beams having shelves to support the containers. Among the shelves of boxes there are pathways for the transport system including the trolleys and shuttles.
In the known art of such storage systems, by ‘shuttle’ is meant a trolley transporting the container in a direction perpendicular to the major axis of the container while the ensilage trolley transports the containers in the direction of the major axis while transferring them with this movement from a storage box to the shuttle and vice versa.
The shuttle transfers the container together with the ensilage trolley, which remains on the shuttle during the movement of same so as to be available for transfer of the container to or from a box when the shuttle is aligned with a new box.
The ensilage trolley disconnected from a trolley is also used for transferring the containers between two aligned boxes belonging to two different sets of shelves facing each other with the short side. In this case the container is transferred from one box of the shelving to the box of the facing shelving instead of from box to shuttle and vice versa. The ensiler moves only forward and backward between the two boxes and transfers the containers while supporting them on itself in the two flow directions.
The bulk of the containers handled can easily exceed 30 tonnes while the length can exceed 12 meters and the width be approximately 2.5 meters with height variable on the basis of the intended use of the container.
The ensiler must therefore be capable of handling containers with rather variable weight and transport them supporting them on itself in different positions. For example, it would be advantageous that the same trolley might support a long or short container transported centered, a short container transported on the right or left side of the ensiler, or two short containers transported simultaneously et cetera.
In addition to the variability of the dimensions, there is also a variability of the position of the center of gravity of the full container depending on the position of the center of gravity of the goods contained in it. A center of gravity position too far from the symmetry axes of the container can cause handling difficulty in the known transport systems.
It is clear that the accidental stopping of a shuttle or an ensilage trolley in the warehouse, in addition to the impossibility of taking or depositing the container foreseen, has repercussions of varying gravity on the entire system based on the type and position of the failure. The difficulties of acceding to a failed machine together with the mass and dimensions of the loads transported increase the difficulties of solving a failure situation.
From the foregoing the need is clear for realizing machines as simple as possible with high reliability, easy to repair even outside the area equipped for programmed maintenance and calling for minimum maintenance even if used in a marine environment. In addition, it is preferable that these machine be capable of completing the work cycle started in the greater part of failure cases foreseen. The whole set remains in minimal dimensions of space occupied in height and reasonable costs.
The general purpose of the present invention is to remedy the above mentioned shortcomings of known devices and make available an innovative ensilage trolley for containers, a shuttle with said trolley and a storage system including said shuttle and trolley which allow satisfaction of the requirements mentioned.